ABC Double-Doses Attack on Private Health Care

The second day into Prescription For Change, a
weeklong series on American health care, ABC News revealed its recent poll found
nearly 9 out of 10 Americans are happy with their health care. But rather than
finding the statistic an encouraging sign, reporter Bill Weir spun it to gripe
about a lack of political will to overhaul health care.

Despite a shattered system full of pain and worry, our
poll found 89 percent of Americans satisfied with the quality of their own care,
and nearly 60 percent content with cost, Weir said on the October 16 World
News with Charles Gibson.

The day before, World News Sunday anchor Dan Harris
mentioned in passing that most Americans say they are satisfied with the care
they get, only to introduce a complaint by liberal former Gov. John Kitzhaber
(D-Ore.) about the cost of health care.

It is a mindset that makes sweeping change so difficult
to prescribe, Harris continued, complaining that it was an attitude that keeps
national health far below the national wealth.

Weirs lament about the need for sweeping change hints
at a government-based overhaul, a recommendation ABC medical correspondent Dr.
Timothy Johnson explicitly advocated on the
October 16 Good Morning America.

The only answer is going to be, eventually, some kind
of national, universal coverage. A guaranteed system that everybody regardless
of income will have at least basic health care, Johnson insisted.

But ABC isnt just pushing for more government
involvement in health care its also attacking solutions being offered by private firms
in the marketplace.

On the October 16 Nightline, anchor Terry Moran
dramatically opened his program with a look at how the countrys biggest
retailer, Wal-Mart (NYSE:
WMT), was getting in on one of the countrys most troubled businesses: The
giant American health care mess.

Moran found patients happy with the cost and convenience
of the in-store clinics, but the ABC anchor cautioned that There are certainly
still a lot of questions about how these store-based clinics will fit into the
big and troubled picture of American health care.

For example, Moran cynically noted that neither Wal-Mart
nor any of the other big chains in this business are setting up these clinics
for charitys sake.

Retailers are getting into this, I believe, because
they benefit from anything that brings customers into the store, Stanford
Universitys Alan Garber told Moran.

Moran didnt add that many Wal-Mart customers fit into
the demographic of un- or under-insured Americans many liberals complain are
falling through the cracks in Americas health care system, although he did
include a sound bite from Wal-Mart executive Bill Simon defending Wal-Mart
health clinics.

Simon told Moran it was an opportunity for his company
to inject a little dose of Sam Waltons business philosophy into the health
care industry, which is bedeviled by the costs and complications of third-party
insurance payments.

Editor's Note: This article was corrected to indicate that
Bill Weir was the reporter in question. BMI regrets the error.

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